Megan Thee Stallion has accused Drake of using her to “pressure” him on his latest track, Circo Loco.
The collab with 21 Savage references a woman who “lies about getting shot, but she’s still a stallion”, which is what many people, including Megan, think of her.
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Texas-born rapper Megan says she was injured when Tory Lanez shot her in the leg after a Hollywood party in 2020.
With Tory – who denies the allegations – due to go on trial soon, BBC Newsbeat is looking at how we got to this point.
Celebration
It all starts at a party hosted by Kylie Jenner on July 12, 2020 in the Hollywood Hills.
Megan, real name Megan Peet, and Tory Lanez, real name Daystar Peterson, were said to have had an argument as they walked away from the incident.
At a hearing last December, Los Angeles police heard a judge asking Megan to get out of the car and Tory yelling at her to dance.
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Authorities said he then opened fire with a pistol.
The Savage singer initially told police she hurt herself after stepping on broken glass.
It was later on Instagram where she said for the first time that Tory had shot her.
The pair were in a relationship but separated before the allegations came to light.
He denied charges of assault with a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle. He has also been ordered to stay at least 100 yards (91.4 metres) away from Megan
Megan later spoke about her injuries – saying she needed surgery to remove bullets from her legs that had missed her bones and tendons.
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“I know my mama and my daddy and my nanny had to look for me with that one, because they missed everything where the bullets went, but there they were,” she previously said.
Both artists referenced the controversy in their work.
In his song Money Over Fallout, Torry suggested that the allegations against him were false, saying: “Megan people try to frame me for shooting.”
In the same track, he casts doubt on the shooting, asking: “How come the bullet hit your leg, no bones or tendons?”
A few months later, Megan released her own song, Shots Fired, accusing Tory of lying “just to save face”, insisting that she “speaks facts”.
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As the controversy escalated, people began taking sides, with Drake being the latest to take Tory’s side.
Megan said: “In some way, I became the villain” after memes and slurs spread online.
She has been accused of lying about being shot and has had to defend herself repeatedly, suggesting misogyny toward black women — may have been why she was targeted. Has been done
Megan has received support from artists including JoJo and Kehlani.
And this week, a group of prominent black women, including MeToo founder Tarana Burke, released an open letter in support of Megan.
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He wrote, “You deserve none of this, Megan. You deserve to be heard, believed, and most importantly, safe.”
But he says he has been portrayed as “offensive” and a “liar”.
Nearly a year after the shooting, DaBaby – who collaborated with Megan on her song Cry Baby – was criticized after he brought Tory backstage after her set at the Rolling Loud festival.
Why is Drake involved?
While Drake and Tory reportedly didn’t always get along, the pair, who are both Canadian, seem to be on good terms now.
He has not responded publicly to the reaction surrounding the track.
When her new album Every Loser, which includes Circo Loco, dropped, Megan reacted furiously on Twitter, writing: “Since when is it cool to joke about women being shot?”.
She said that “weak … conspiracy theories” were attached to her name and hit out at rappers who “pile on a black woman when she says all you homebuyers mistreated her.” did”.
She accused Waddings of “dominating” Drake.
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Where do we go from here?
Tory has remained tight-lipped since the track dropped, only tweeting a shrunken emoji.
He has been under house arrest since last week ahead of his long-awaited trial, which is set to begin next month in a Los Angeles court.
The trial was due to start in September, but was delayed after Tory told the court that his defense lawyers were busy with other matters.